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DfE finally adds detail to secretive headteacher board minutes

The government has begun to lift the lid on decisions made by its secretive headteacher boards, but officials want to go further to ensure there are “no mysteries” about how academies are passed around the system. The first set of beefed-up minutes were published earlier this month for south east England and south London, the […]

Music hub inconsistencies reveal funding ‘postcode lottery’

The government has been warned its preference for smaller-scale hub projects instead of larger injections of revenue funding is creating a “postcode lottery” of provision. The warning comes as new Schools Week analysis reveals huge regional variations in the coverage of the government’s music hubs programme. The Department for Education claimed last month that “record […]

Teach First sharpens recruitment focus as DfE considers its future

The teacher-training charity Teach First has launched a substantial shake-up of its operations, amid doubts over the future of its government funding. The organisation this week announced new initiatives to get more career-changers, returner teachers and teaching assistants into the classroom. It comes after Teach First ditched several of its non-teaching-related programmes, putting a number […]

NHS: 1 in 8 pupils has a mental health disorder

One in eight school-age children had an identified mental disorder last year, the first new data on the subject in 14 years has revealed. The NHS has finally released long-awaited statistics from a major survey of the mental health of children and young people carried out in 2017. It is the first time since 2004 […]

New ‘aspects of engagement’ assessment to replace P-scales

The government has announced that a new testing approach to measure the attainment of pupils with complex disabilities will replace “P-scales” from 2020. Ministers say the new “aspects of engagement” approach, which will replace P-scales 1 to 4, will address problems over the old system’s focus on “linear progress”. P-scales are currently used to measure […]

New national schools commissioner pledges ‘transparency and consistency’

The country’s regional schools commissioners will become “more transparent and more consistent”, the new national schools commissioner has pledged. Dominic Herrington, who took over as interim NSC in September, told school leaders today that he wants a “tigher” relationship with trusts, as he pledged to sing the praises of the “unsung heroes” of the academies system […]

Minister bets heads a bottle of champagne he can find savings in their schools

The academies minister Lord Agnew has said he will bet any headteacher “a bottle of champagne and a letter of commendation” that he can identify more potential savings in their schools. The politician told the Schools and Academies Show in Birmingham today that he was “like a pig out hunting for truffles when it comes […]